A MAN who threatened a woman on her doorstep with a machete has been jailed for nine months.

Brian Smith, 40, waved the blade and claimed he would kill Ann Savage, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The pair had been involved in an altercation earlier in the evening after Ms Savage confronted Smith, accusing him of driving past her house at regular intervals and eyeing up her car, which had been broken into three times previously.

In turn, Smith, of Laurel Avenue, Thornaby, Teesside, claimed Ms Savage had struck him with her mobile phone.

Later, Smith turned up at the complainant's house and, after barging through the front door, threatened Ms Savage with the machete.

He had been drinking heavily and was swaying from side to side, the court was told.

Peter Sabiston, for Smith, said: "This was a disgraceful incident and one that embarrasses him. It was an aberration he cannot explain."

Smith, who admitted a charge of affray on February 29, had a number of previous convictions stretching back 25 years and which resulted in 18 previous court appearances.

Jailing him, Judge Richard Lowden said that although he was very drunk, he had terrorised his victim.